The title sounds vaguely Mafia-esque: it's quite simple. My Thai visa had run out, so I had to leave Thailand to re-enter it & get another one. I decided to re-visit Cambodia and travel via Battambang which sounded 'interesting'. Read on and find out more...
Mon 22nd Feb
Battambang – middle of nowhere and a crazy place.
Went to railway station . Not to catch a train as it’s closed (forever?) with the station clock stopped at 8.10. Curvy, wrinkled, rusty railway lines (sounds like someone you know???) – this could be why the few trains that actually run in Cambodia do so very, very slowly. Looked around crumbing Victorian & Art Deco railway sheds – most with people living inside them. V. evocative buildings but the engines, etc have been moved to Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia) – what a shame.
Then to big temple at the top of about 328 steps. I sound specific – no I didn’t count them – I was too puffed.
Temple OK, like Angkor Wat – then looked for caves – 3 of them, only 1 is still mined… the implications of that casual statement are quite riveting.
Scrambled down hill, eventually found them. Impressive. Best thing was, we were joined by 5 teenage monks & 3 friends of theirs, who had offerings for the small Buddha statues in there. They had also brought a radio & stood around listening to pop music & smoking in the torchlight. Talk about a hideaway! I wonder what Buddha thought of it all.
Then had impromptu back massage by lovely old lady who started off by fanning me with a homemade cardboard fan stapled to a bit of wood. It worked v well.
Off again, to Pepsi Factory
– why? It had been closed by the Khmer Rouge when they took over the town in 1978 (I suppose Pepsi must be a major symbol of decadence – very un-Communist). Took atmospheric photos of left-over machinery and abandoned cobwebby bottles, all empties. (I wonder what happened to the full bottles? Not drunk by anyone, by chance???)
Next? Crocodile farm – mobile handbags - lots of them, like statues, then one would suddenly move, yawn… slither into the water – very fast - with a mighty kerfuffle & splash.
Also visited crumbling ruin of Khmer temple, directly behind a v modern Thai-style one. Next to this was a giant-size Buddha. Incongruous mix of styles & ages. Final temple had been used by Khmer Rouge as a prison, with the surrounding area a killing field. Horrible. It was commemorated by a large memorial, part of which was an ossuary. Probably loads of monk bones in there. Around the bottom were graphic sculptures which detailed various KR atrocities in the area.
We also visited a fish market. What a pong!!! The fish were cleaned by machine – a twirler screw thing in water; the water was scummy & smelt disgusting – not much cleaning going on here… Then they were gutted, really quickly, in the open air.
Grand finale – the bamboo train! It went from nowhere to nowhere, very fast. The principle is simple: the few trains that actually run in Cambodia go very slowly; they are easy to spot and there is loads of time to get out of their way. In the meantime, those horribly warped rails with gaps between them are lying idle. Enter (very quickly) the Bamboo Train.
Two sets of wheels, placed on rails. 1 bamboo platform, with guard rails & built-in engine. Belt thing-y (technology is my strong point…) to connect engine to wheels. Passengers + luggage / goods / motorbikes etc. And, off you go, like a bat out of hell, hurtling incredibly fast – a wacky dash along badly spaced, uneven lines. I sat in the front, holding on to nothing, bounced & jolted. Bridges – excellent – huge gaps, old pieces of wood as sleepers. Stop? No problem – my guys had to give way, it literally took one minute to disassemble, move offline & assemble. It was slick. It was fun. It was glorious!
Battambang – middle of nowhere and a crazy place.
Went to railway station . Not to catch a train as it’s closed (forever?) with the station clock stopped at 8.10. Curvy, wrinkled, rusty railway lines (sounds like someone you know???) – this could be why the few trains that actually run in Cambodia do so very, very slowly. Looked around crumbing Victorian & Art Deco railway sheds – most with people living inside them. V. evocative buildings but the engines, etc have been moved to Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia) – what a shame.
Then to big temple at the top of about 328 steps. I sound specific – no I didn’t count them – I was too puffed.
Temple OK, like Angkor Wat – then looked for caves – 3 of them, only 1 is still mined… the implications of that casual statement are quite riveting.Scrambled down hill, eventually found them. Impressive. Best thing was, we were joined by 5 teenage monks & 3 friends of theirs, who had offerings for the small Buddha statues in there. They had also brought a radio & stood around listening to pop music & smoking in the torchlight. Talk about a hideaway! I wonder what Buddha thought of it all.
Then had impromptu back massage by lovely old lady who started off by fanning me with a homemade cardboard fan stapled to a bit of wood. It worked v well.
Off again, to Pepsi Factory
– why? It had been closed by the Khmer Rouge when they took over the town in 1978 (I suppose Pepsi must be a major symbol of decadence – very un-Communist). Took atmospheric photos of left-over machinery and abandoned cobwebby bottles, all empties. (I wonder what happened to the full bottles? Not drunk by anyone, by chance???)Next? Crocodile farm – mobile handbags - lots of them, like statues, then one would suddenly move, yawn… slither into the water – very fast - with a mighty kerfuffle & splash.
Also visited crumbling ruin of Khmer temple, directly behind a v modern Thai-style one. Next to this was a giant-size Buddha. Incongruous mix of styles & ages. Final temple had been used by Khmer Rouge as a prison, with the surrounding area a killing field. Horrible. It was commemorated by a large memorial, part of which was an ossuary. Probably loads of monk bones in there. Around the bottom were graphic sculptures which detailed various KR atrocities in the area.
We also visited a fish market. What a pong!!! The fish were cleaned by machine – a twirler screw thing in water; the water was scummy & smelt disgusting – not much cleaning going on here… Then they were gutted, really quickly, in the open air.
Grand finale – the bamboo train! It went from nowhere to nowhere, very fast. The principle is simple: the few trains that actually run in Cambodia go very slowly; they are easy to spot and there is loads of time to get out of their way. In the meantime, those horribly warped rails with gaps between them are lying idle. Enter (very quickly) the Bamboo Train.
Two sets of wheels, placed on rails. 1 bamboo platform, with guard rails & built-in engine. Belt thing-y (technology is my strong point…) to connect engine to wheels. Passengers + luggage / goods / motorbikes etc. And, off you go, like a bat out of hell, hurtling incredibly fast – a wacky dash along badly spaced, uneven lines. I sat in the front, holding on to nothing, bounced & jolted. Bridges – excellent – huge gaps, old pieces of wood as sleepers. Stop? No problem – my guys had to give way, it literally took one minute to disassemble, move offline & assemble. It was slick. It was fun. It was glorious!
No comments:
Post a Comment